January 24, 2012

New Archive release: Laura Palmer's Theme bundle (part 1)

This week we recieved a fantastic new bundle from the Archive of 14(!) various versions of the show's signature melody, "Laura Palmer's Theme". I'll be splitting this into two posts.Beginnings And Endings... part 2Back in August when the Archive released the "Diary Bundle", I mentioned the four versions of Laura's Palmers Theme that I thought of as the "Beginnings And Endings" versions (named after Andrew's toast with Josie in episode 23). Two versions were released then: the "Ethereal Pad Version", and the "Guardian Angel Version". Actually the latter was mistakenly released with the incorrect title of "Letter From Harold". But I've always listed it here on my site as the "Guardian Angel Version".This week we finally got the two MIA versions, one of which is the actual "Letter From Harold". I've been waiting for these, and its fantastic to finally have them. Here's where they were used:

Laura Palmer’s Theme (Caroline Version)(1:14)Episode 21: Cooper tells Truman about Caroline’s death, an image of Caroline appears over CooperEpisode 28: Leo looks at the Queen-Shelly cardLaura Palmer’s Theme (Letter From Harold)(1:18)Episode 16: Donna & Cooper meet the younger Mrs. Tremond, Donna reads Laura’s last diary entry to Cooper (mixes into Dance Of The Dream Man (Solo Sax) & Laura Palmer’s Theme (Vibraphone))This leads us into the next track, which you can see was also featured in the scene where Donna reads the page from Laura's diary (left by Harold). The lovely "Vibraphone" version which we can now hear in its entirety for the first time.Laura Palmer's Theme (Vibraphone) (4:17)Episode 16: After receiving it from the younger Mrs. Tremond (from Harold), Donna reads Laura’s last diary entry to Cooper (mixes from Laura Palmer’s Theme (Letter From Harold) & Dance Of The Dream Man (Solo Sax))Episode 29: One bass sound(!) as Lucy & Andy say "I love you"Laura Palmer’s Theme (Dark Synth)(2:15)Episode 03: Truman, Ed, and Hawk bring Cooper to the Bookhouse for the first time, James is there with a tied up BernardEpisode 22: Donna confronts Evelyn at Wallies, is threatened by MalcolmEpisode 24: Cooper talks to an angry, drunk Truman at the BookhouseAnd lastly, we get the two short clarinet bridges:Laura Palmer’s Theme (Clarinet & Strings Bridge)(0:20)Episode 04: Cooper vaguely talks about "the pain of a broken heart" during shooting practiceLaura Palmer’s Theme (Clarinet Bridge)(0:22)Episode 05: Cooper finds Audrey in his bed as the episode endsEpisode 17: Josie arrives at Truman’s and collapses to the floor, where he kisses her all over (mixed with White Lodge Rumble)Absolutely great bundle from the Archive. One of the best releases yet. Next post will be about the piano versions.